By Keith Idec
NEW YORK – Errol Spence Jr. doesn’t just want to be the best welterweight of the post-Mayweather era.
The ambitious, unbeaten IBF 147-pound champion plans to establish a legacy over the next few years that’ll elevate him into an elite class of fighters.
The DeSoto, Texas, native figures if he can beat the Danny Garcia-Shawn Porter winner, Keith Thurman and Terence Crawford, and then move up to conquer the super welterweight division, he’ll be remembered historically as Hall-of-Fame fighter with an irrefutable record.
Spence discussed his goals with a small group of reporters this week at a Manhattan restaurant.
“I wanna be known as a guy who fought the best,” Spence said, “who was willing to fight the best, always came in the ring 100 percent and always gave it my all, had a big heart and never shied away from a challenge.”
The most noteworthy win of Spence’s six-year pro career thus far is his 11th-round knockout of Kell Brook in May 2017. Spence (24-0, 21 KOs), then Brook’s mandatory challenger, traveled to Brook’s hometown, blocked out a Brook-crazed crowd of roughly 27,000 and took the IBF welterweight title from him at Bramall Lane, a soccer stadium in Sheffield, England.
According to Spence, that will be just one of many memorable victories by the time the 2012 Olympian’s pro career concludes.
“I wanna be considered as an all-time great,” Spence said. “I wanna be mentioned with the likes of ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard, Ali and Ray Robinson, Floyd Mayweather. I wanna be mentioned along with those greats. And I know in order to do that, I have to fight the best fighters out there and keep getting titles. Hopefully, I can be undisputed welterweight champion.
“And then my goal is to go 154 [pounds] and become the undisputed super welterweight champion. I mean, those goals I can accomplish. I’m 28 years old, I’m young, I have a great manager behind me and Showtime’s behind me. So I have a great system behind me and the sky is not the limit.”
The 28-year-old Spence expects to fight an undetermined opponent before the end of this year. He hopes his 2019 includes victories over whoever wins the Garcia-Porter fight and Thurman.
Philadelphia’s Garcia (34-1, 20 KOs) and Las Vegas’ Porter (28-2-1, 17 KOs) are expected to fight August 25 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the WBC welterweight title Thurman gave up late in April. Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs, 1 NC), of Clearwater, Florida, hasn’t fought since beating Garcia by split decision in March 2017 due to elbow surgery and a subsequent hand injury.
If they can continue winning, Spence and Crawford might not fight until some point in 2020. Crawford (33-0, 24 KOs), of Omaha, Nebraska, owns the WBO welterweight title and typically is considered one of the top three fighters, pound-for-pound, in boxing.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
